One-Shot: Head in the Clouds
by Blue1272000
Summary: This is a One-Shot I did for a challenge, this is my first One-Shot about a cat who has a lot of tragedy in her life but makes a world of her own that suits her troubled life.


**Hey! this is Blue! I am doing this One-shot for two reasons,**

**1, It's for a challenge on a forum I'm in**

**2, I am taking a small break from my other story, because I really need to put a little thought into the plot, so I needed a little time to do that**

**Well hope you enjoy this! **

"**Head in the Clouds"**

The sun warmed her fur as she stretched, she was imagining what her life would be like if there was only sun, butterflies, and the loved ones that were no longer with her. _Snowleaf, Blazeclaw, Rabbitpaw, if you can hear me, know that I need you! _no answer came to her on the cold breeze of leaf-bare and the pines around her were silent, blocking the sky from her. _Why did every one leave me? _Snowleaf, her mother, and Blazeclaw, her father, had been killed by a fox. Then her brother, Rabbitpaw, had ran away when he had heard of their parents death, and then been found dead on the Thunderpath the next day.

_ Maybe if I just imagine they are still with me it will feel the same, _she closed her eyes and imagined that Snowleaf was standing right next to her, murmuring that she loved her and that she would never leave again. She dwelled on this, and continued to imagine it, she didn't move, but kept her eyes closed, and images showed in her head. She saw her mother, her white pelt glowing brightly in the sun, and her father standing on her other side of her, his dark ginger fur ablaze in the dying sun. Her brother was there as well, his brown tabby fur soft and clean as he jumped after butterflies. _I wish this would last, _she blinked open her eyes, and found herself where she had laid down, on a mossy spot below a big snowy pine.

She got slowly to her paws and padded toward camp, but her thoughts were still on her family, she padded into camp, and walked around aimlessly, ignoring her clanmates. _Why can't I be with my family? that's were I belong. _"Hey, why don't we go for a walk," she looked up at the voice, Duskwing, her only remaining friend, because she had been blamed for her brothers death. She followed Duskwing out of camp, but trailed behind her, she could almost hear Snowleaf whispering in her ears, and she held onto it, ignoring every other thought, and focused on Snowleaf.

"You need to let go, stop living in the clouds, and fuscous on what's happening around you," Duskwing was mewing, but she only nodded in response, not even trying to listen. A growl came from Duskwing, "I try to help you, but I can't do that if you don't try to listen at all , you cannot come back to camp until you catch to pieces of prey," and with that Duskwing whipped around and stalked away angrily. She looked after her, knowing that she had just lost her last friend, _I wasn't trying to be mean, why will no one help me through this, don't they understand? _

Feeling more lost and alone then she had been feeling a moment before, she sniffed the air hoping for some prey scent but found none on the pine scented breeze. She continued to look around, halfheartedly, she didn't feel hungry, and she didn't want to be around her clanmates, where she would just be turned away. It was getting dark, she was far from camp, and she hadn't found any prey and she didn't dare go back without any prey. She was only half in the snowy forest her thoughts drifting like a leaf on the breeze, and as snow began to fall, she numbly padded into the center of a clearing where she was open to all the chilly wind and the falling snow, but she didn't care.

She closed her eyes and this time she saw her father Blazeclaw, _come on you can do it, you're my daughter, and I will always protect you, no matter what, _his voice whispered_. _she opened her eyes and saw only white around her, she faintly realized that the snow had covered her, but she didn't feel anything, so she didn't do anything. She just closed her eyes again, this time she heard her brothers teasing mew, _come on! I bet I can catch that butterfly before you! Ha! I got it! Now you have to clean out the elders dirty bedding! _a purr rose in her throat as she saw the sun shining on her brothers fur making it glow and shine.

She opened her eyes again, but saw nothing but darkness, she didn't care, she felt nothing, saw nothing. There was no snow, no cold, no pain, she didn't even feel scared, just felt that something was before her, something she had been searching for, and she felt the certainty that what she had longed for was just ahead.

Suddenly a light appeared in front of her, she stepped through, and found herself in a warm forest, it was full of prey-scent and strong pine and cat scent, not any that she distinctly recognized, but all were warm and comforting. She padded forward, and made out the shape of cats running through the trees, but no cat approached her, _where am I? and what am I doing here?_

She continued padding forward, and for the first time in a long while her thoughts weren't off in some other world. Eventually she became tired, she didn't know how long she had been padding through the warm, but strange forest. She laid down for a rest, but she couldn't fall asleep, irritated she stood up and continued to walk forward, she caught her breath as she came to a place she knew well, _Fourtrees._

_ Am I in StarClan? _the thought made her tingle with happiness, _Snowleaf, Blazeclaw, and Rabbitpaw are here! _She looked around wildly for her family, and her heart caught in her throat as she spotted her mother, Snowleaf. "Snowleaf! I thought I would never see you again!" she mewed, happiness obvious in her mew. "My precious daughter, I will always be with you," Snowleaf murmured, "does that mean you'll visit me in my dreams?" she mewed, it wasn't as nice as being able to talk with her, but it was better then not seeing her at all.

"My daughter, look at yourself," Snowleaf mewed, sadness in her gaze, confused she padded to a puddle on the edge of the clearing and looked down at herself. Her fur was sparkling, stars were in her fur and eyes, _I'm dead? _but instead of sadness she was happy, _I can always be with family now! _she purred, "where are Blazeclaw and Rabbitpaw?" she asked Snowleaf. "They are here in StarClan, with us," looking up she saw two cats, one was a dark ginger tom and another was a younger brown tom.

"I'm so happy to see you!" she cried bounding toward them, "we're glad to see you as well, but I wish it was under different conditions," Blazeclaw mewed. She looked at him in confusion, surely it wasn't a bad thing that she was with her family, instead of with cold and heartless clanmates. "You will never be a warrior, never have a mate with kits, never know the joys that come with the life in a clan," Rabbitpaw mewed. "Neither did you, and I was never happy anyway, and I won't miss them at all, I'll be much happier with you," she mewed.

Snowleaf looked at her, sadness in her gaze, turning to Blazeclaw and Rabbitpaw, Snowleaf asked them to leave, they nodded in understanding an disappeared into the pine forest. "Follow me," Snowleaf mewed, then ran off into a different direction then the one Blazeclaw and Rabbitpaw had taken. She followed Snowleaf quickly trying to catch up, Snowleaf didn't slow until they came to a clearing with a clear pool in the middle of it. "Look into the pool daughter," Snowleaf murmured, she looked into the pool and gasped in surprise.

She saw _herself_ in the forest, her body was covered in snow and looked coated white in frost, as the early sunlight streamed over it. She blinked and the image of her lifeless body fell away to the ShadowClan camp, "where is that cat! She should have been up ages ago!" she recognized her mentor, Birchfoot. "I don't know, nobody saw her last night, we thought she just got lost in her thoughts, that cats head is full of clouds!" that was Duskwing. "Well she is going to be in big trouble when I find her," Birchfoot mewed, his fur fluffed up in anger, _I was right, nobody likes me. _

The angry words fell away, and she was back to where her cold body was, the dawn patrol was there, "I guess she froze in her sleep," the speaker was Twitchtail. There was no sadness in the mews of any cat, _I guess no one will miss me. _"Should we bring her back to camp, or just bury her now" the mew came from one of her old friends, Rainpaw. "We'll just bury her now, there's no one who is going to sit vigil with her, we'll just say that we found no trace of her, no one will care enough to look" Twitchtail mewed. The other cats on the patrol nodded, they quickly dug a hole, then threw her body in it, and filled it back up. Without another word they padded away, without even a glance. She couldn't take it anymore, she leapt into the pool and found herself standing where her body was buried. She didn't know why but she raced after the patrol, no cat could see her, as she fell into step with Rainpaw, looking at Rainpaw she whispered.

"How could you do that to me?" Rainpaw stopped dead staring at her, as if she could see her. She just sighed and turned back running to her grave she somehow was back at the pool with Snowleafs tail around her shoulder. "Come on, in StarClan you will always be loved and cared about," Snowleafs mew was gentle and she led the way up the slope, but she turned back to look in the pool and saw Rainpaw standing at her grave, head bowed and shoulders hunched.

...

She had been with StarClan two days, and no one had ever mentioned her in their conversation back at the ShadowClan camp, no one but Rainpaw. She hesitated, she didn't know that what she was doing was right but she was doing in anyway. Plunging into the dark snowbound forest, she approached her mentor Birchfoot, who was standing watch. "Do you really not care about me?" she mewed, Birchfoot jumped staring at her. "you!..your dead!" Birchfoot burst out, "yes, I am, but I am sorry I wasn't a better apprentice, then maybe someone would care about me." Birchfoots eyes were filled with guilt, as she traveled back to StarClan.

"I hope your done journeying to the clans," Snowleaf mewed, she nodded in response, "I am done, and am no longer a world away from the clans." Snowleaf purred. "No, that's exactly where you are, and you are finally at peace, my precious daughter, Driftpaw."

**Well that was it, I'd like to see what you think of my first One-Shot! Please Review!**


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